Ambitious fish's fib makes waves

Desperate for dinosaur drawings, your son secretly swipes your daughter's illustrations for his own report. He turns in the project—boasting about his awesome art—and earns an A+. The teacher, impressed with his newfound ability, asks your son to paint the class mural. He's caught in a lie and doesn't know how to get out.

The consequences of telling lies are at the heart of the animated film Shark Tale, now released on home video. After watching the movie, use our questions below for a family conversation about lying. Then play our game “Burst Your Bubble” to bring the big-screen lesson to life!

Shark Tale features Oscar (Will Smith), a lively fish unhappy with his dull routine of working at the whale car wash. Across the waters, shark Lenny (Jack Black) is thrust into the jaws of taking over his family's fish-killing business. But Lenny, who's a vegetarian, is afraid to admit to his father (Robert DeNiro) that he doesn't have the heart for the job.

Currents collide when Lenny and Oscar meet over a freak accident that kills Lenny's brother. With news crews on the scene, Oscar lies and claims he killed the shark. Oscar finds the fame and fortune he's always dreamed of. But he learns his scam comes at a cost.

Talk Together

When Oscar claimed he killed the shark, he became a celebrity—the Shark Slayer. What better way could Oscar have fulfilled his dreams of being famous without lying? Talk about how you felt watching Oscar rise to riches because of his fib.

How did Oscar and Lenny's lies get them in trouble with their friends and families? If you were Oscar or Lenny, what would you have done differently?

Play Together: Burst Your Bubble

You will need:
• 3 round 12-inch balloons
• 3 pennies
• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• Several sheets of newspaper
• Craft paints and brushes
• String
• Broomstick

Wedge a penny into each deflated balloon. Blow up each balloon to a different size—the biggest should be stretched to the limit, and the smallest should be about tennis ball size.

Bring two cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. In a bowl, stir flour with the remaining two cups water. Add mixture to saucepan and return until boiling. Remove from heat immediately. Stir in sugar. Let cool until mixture starts to thicken into paste.

Tear newspaper into six-by-one-inch strips. Drag strips through paste mixture. Wipe off any excess with your fingers. Cover balloon with newspaper strips. Let newspaper dry thoroughly overnight. Pop balloons and decorate the outsides with paint.

Use string to hang the biggest piñata, or “bubble,” to the end of a broomstick. Explain to your kids that the bubble represents a lie, and the penny is the truth. When you burst the bubble and free the penny, it's just like when you admit you lie: you free the truth.

Holding the broomstick far away from you, let your kids take turns using a wooden spoon to bat the biggest bubble until the penny falls out. Continue playing using the medium-sized balloon. Hold it up higher so it's harder to hit. Save the littlest bubble for last, and hold that one as high as you can. It should be the most difficult to break.

Point out that just as Oscar learned, if you lie, it gets harder and harder to tell the truth as time goes on—just as the bubbles got harder and harder to burst. Of course, it's best not to lie at all. But if your kids do fib, this game will teach them it's best to admit their lie right away so they're off the hook!

copyright © 2005 Cinematters